Scientific Learning Programs and the Common Core

When it comes to supporting schools in meeting the Common Core State Standards, our programs do more. Not only do they align with many of the standards at all grade levels, but they build better learners at the same time—so students often make rapid achievement gains in reading and other subject areas. That means you need fewer programs to get where you’re trying to go. And you have less to fit into the school day, less to administer, less hassle.

Learners listen to and respond to sound differences, match sounds in syllables and words, sort words based on sounds, identify missing letters in a word, and more.

Learners click on words and hear them pronounced, which links letters and words to oral language and builds understanding of word boundaries. Sentences are highlighted as they are read aloud, tracking print from left to right, top to bottom. Page controls reinforce book handling and awareness.

Phonics and Word Recognition

Learners match written and spoken words, find a spoken word in a series of written words, fill in missing letters or unscramble letters to spell a spoken word, build word families, and more.

The speech recognizer requires that learners read high-frequency and Dolch words accurately, applying its strictest level for pronunciation. Content vocabulary is repeated and practiced within a group of related selections. Clicking on underlined words accesses student-friendly glossary entries.

Fluency

Learners hear, read along, or independently read fiction and nonfiction text selections and perform a variety of tasks in response to the text, including answering comprehension questions, choosing from a selection of similar sentences that best paraphrases the meaning of the text, building multiple paragraph passages and demonstrating comprehension of the passages, and more.

Learners listen to a story, paragraph, or nonfiction passage and respond by answering comprehension questions, selecting a best answer connecting text to text or pictures to text, selecting a sentence that best paraphrases the text, and more. These tasks require learners to use a variety of strategies including literal comprehension, determining cause and consequences, making inferences, comprehension of content and style, etc.

Learners read a variety of text types and answer guided reading questions by using appropriate reading strategies, making inferences, and analyzing or interpret text.

Nonfiction and folklore provide information about cultures in the United States and around the world. Characters in fiction and biography selections come from a variety of ethnic and racial backgrounds and include persons with disabilities. Fiction selections are taken from classic and contemporary authentic literature from a variety of cultures. They provide opportunities for students to recognize and understand the impact of literary elements such as theme, setting, plot, and character.

Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity

Learners hear, read along, or independently read fiction and informational text at a variety of levels and complete different types of tasks related to the text.

Reading Assistant includes a variety of genre including contemporary fiction, historical fiction, science fiction, mystery, biography, personal narrative, expository nonfiction, and poetry, which can be used in teacher-developed activities to address this standard.

Reading Assistant provides fiction and nonfiction appropriate to the interests of students in the designated grades. Selections are grouped into clusters that relate to content-area standards and topics. Reading levels range from below- to on-grade level so that students read increasingly complex texts.

Scientific Learning Programs and the English Language Arts Standards

Standard

Fast ForWord®

Reading Assistant™

Vocabulary Acquisition and Use

Vocabulary development tasks include listening to a story and answering comprehension questions, listening to words or sentences and selecting pictures that best represent what was heard, listening to instructions and manipulating one or more objects as instructed, sorting pictures and words into categories to build vocabulary knowledge by exploring different conceptual relationships, filling in what’s missing (a word, letter, or punctuation mark), and more.

Vocabulary support is provided through audio and glossary features. Content vocabulary is repeated and practiced within a group of related selections. Clicking on underlined words accesses student-friendly glossary entries.

Glossary entries for words, idioms, and figurative phrases include definitions; context sentences; pictures; any prefixes, suffixes, roots; and multiple meanings. Spanish translations are available as an option.

Knowledge of Language

Learners develop knowledge of language in a variety of ways, including selecting the response that best answers a given question; choosing the best word or words to complete a sentence or paragraph; selecting the sentence that most accurately describes a picture, manipulating written words based on semantic, syntactic, phonological, and morphological characteristics; and more.

Learners apply knowledge of language to understand how language functions in different contexts, to make effective choices for meaning or style, and to comprehend more fully when reading or listening. Guided reading questions lead students to use appropriate reading strategies, make inferences, and analyze or interpret text.

Fluency

Learners hear, read along, or independently read fiction and nonfiction text selections and perform a variety of tasks in response to the text, including answering comprehension questions, choosing from a selection of similar sentences that best paraphrases the meaning of the text, building multiple paragraph passages and demonstrating comprehension of the passages, and more.